Name: Raeece Sarwar  

Student ID: 609235 

Date: 30/10/2018 

-First Blog Entry -  

• Regarding this first blog entry I want to start off explaining my first five weeks in this amazing and eye-opening opportunity. For most people, college is a huge step in developing their mindset and becoming a more mature and studious individual, in my eyes those were my goals completely. To completely indulge myself in work and become a more rounded person, using my bubbly and charismatic person in the right direction and I'm extremely proud so far how I have completely excelled. Me personally, I left my friends off 14 years, to come college as I was one of a handful of students who did leave the 6 form and therefore, I was extremely scared and anxious actually for one of the first time in my life, but I knew being quite an outgoing person I would settle in and undoubtedly it's one of the best decisions I will ever make in my life. Coming to college has really shaped my life for me, most definitely in the most positive way, as I have gained the ability to really be involved with whatever it is, I am doing, making new friends and even ones which I don’t ever want to lose. The course so far has been a rocket of fun and curiosity as everything is so new and amazing to me, regarding computing I was not 100% sure I would take a liking to it, but I have, and it will become a real passion of mine quite quickly. 
• Furthermore, regarding my specific units, I find procedural programming and database design to be the most challenging right now as they are two units which are completely new territory. However, every other topic I feel I am excelling in as my creativity and imagination is being allowed to run free and this is when as a student I most definitely learn at my most optimum level. I also feel the way teachers treat us as students and how they teach us has a great impact on me as a student because they treat us like adults which really does motivate us as students because it makes the relationship between student and teacher a strong and impactful one , I feel teachers at Bedford college do a really amazing job of doing so. I think the most important thing is that as students and as a class on this Level 3 course everyone is happy and there is no negative or bad energy surrounding anyone or anything, it's all filled with laughter, fun and happiness and that’s why I wouldn’t change anything right now of where I am in my life. 

-> In this Blog Entry I will simply explain all the new skills and knowledge I have gained in my units separately to demonstrate specifically what I am finding easy and am enjoying. I will be portraying to you the reader how well I have learnt in each specific unit and my motivation and eagerness to learn regarding each unit. Then I will also say how I could improve myself in each unit to take in more knowledge and learn more. 

-> Unit 1 - Communication and Employability Skills for IT 

• In communication and employability, I have undoubtedly learnt more about myself as a person and key qualities about myself. Communication and employability don’t really coincide with computing however I feel it's one of the most important topics that I am studying as its extremely important to be informed on how to approach people in everyday life. I think learning in this unit is very productive and engaging as the class is being taught by a teacher who lives on group discussions and pondering in letting students indulge in new ideas and topics which affect them. I think I could reduce my distractions and channel my energy into focusing on my work so I can excel in my work. So, I can do this by being tunnel vision when I work and completely avoid any distractions.  Reflecting on this as a student I could implement these specific skills I learnt in my lessons and then use them in my everyday life to ensure my communication with other people is good and effective, I could use these skills to land a better chance of getting a job as we learnt interview skills also. 

Unit 2 - Computer Systems 

• Computer systems is a very informative class and place of study. This class is important because you get taught the most basic aspects of computing in my opinion. These certain aspects of computer systems really do coincide with most other units in the course. Learning in the computer system class area is very productive and the teacher does his best to make sure tasks have been appropriately explained before they are being done by us the student. Collectively as a class, behavior is never a problem as most people just want to get on with their work. I could improve in computer systems maybe by answering more questions regularly and be more inquisitive therefore expanding my knowledge on it. I also gained a distinction in this units first assignment.  Reflecting on this as a student I could therefore be more aware of my awareness in lesson and guide my knowledge into positives, I could do more research at home. 

Unit 9 Computer Networks 

• Computer networks breathes the heart of computing as of modern age, as we are informed of Wi-Fi setups, Installations and an extremely exciting trip to the top of our block to practically be indulged in what we are learning. This makes it more exciting as a student to learn when you are practically being demonstrated what you are learning. Something new I have learnt is how to build a diagram of a network and how to set it up, so it works which is quite exciting as a student to see that you are making progress. The class is taught by a teacher who prefers doing practical demonstrations, so students do learn more effectively, as a visual learner I benefit off this massively. I could talk less in this lesson and guide my energy into productivity rather than distractions therefore excelling my ability in my learning.  Reflecting on this as a student I could do more research regarding computer networks therefore my knowledge on them will be more broadened making me excel more in my understanding of computer networks. 

Unit 16: Procedural Programming 

• Procedural programming is the most difficult unit in my opinion to study because it's completely new territory to myself. As someone who doesn’t mind being taken out of my comfort zone. It's still quote tedious being introduced to something and being completely thrown into the deep end on the first weeks however I'm slowly adjusting to the change and hope to make more time for programming and do extra work on this at home therefore expanding my knowledge on this topic and excelling at it because it’s the unit which most needs the most amount of attention from myself right now. The learning environment in that specific class can sometimes be quite distracting however I have learnt to focus on my work rather than be distracted.  Reflecting on this as a student I could simply research more on the programming side of this specific unit, this could be achieved by simply using the online python and make sure I use it to my best ability.  

Unit 13: IT Systems Repair and Troubleshooting 

• As someone who loves practicality, on initial sounds of repairing PCs, I thought it would be something that would come to me naturally however I struggled on the first few lessons. After becoming comfortable in the environment, I work in I slowly started to become better in what I was doing regarding the practical side and slowly became more experienced in fixing the PCs more efficiently. I have learnt new skills in this unit, the main one being how to take apart a PC. This has shown me as a student that I'm learning something in this class furthermore I should look to become more aware of mu surroundings regarding who I work with so I can make sure I excel in my work and that I can do it at my optimum ability.  Reflecting on this as a student I could I could maybe do more home study regarding PCs and ensuring that I can have enough time at home to allow myself to be able to fix and take apart PCs at home also, this then will boost my knowledge on PCs and allow me to have an easier time in class. 

Unit 28-Website Production 

• In website production I have really taken in the aspects of website production, I feel I have really enjoyed this topic so far because I derive from being able to experiment with my creativity and ideas. I have learnt several aspects regarding websites and the internet, including how it works and the effects it has. The learning environment in this class is good because everyone helps everyone and there is no bad energy between anyone. Furthermore, the work is quite straightforward, reflecting on this as a student as I could build my understanding more as a student to improve my understanding on the development of websites. As a student of the class, I feel that my visual way of learning is being adhered to as there are many resources the teachers using to aid me. Furthermore, I could maybe be at home and then make websites online myself which will most definitely boost my knowledge regarding websites and the production surrounding them, If I make websites at home then I can use this extra knowledge I learnt at home and input it into my learning in the college environment. 

Unit 32 - Networked Systems Security 

• Network systems security consists of being constantly indulged in work which is quite new to me however as you learn more and more about it, it starts to slowly become more evident that its quite straight forward actually. The skills which I have acquired are not really skills however I have obtained more knowledge regarding systems security and this unit really interests me as I really want to pursue a career in cyber security. Furthermore, I achieved a distinction in my first assignment, which was amazing, and I was super proud of achieving it because my hard work paid off. To improve my ability to learn in this unit I could ask my teacher If she could include more visual ways of learning for me or some tips which would benefit me or even the class as a collection because there are several people who learn from visual aid. Reflecting on this as a student, I could do some independent research at home which could aid me and therefore could expand my collective knowledge on this unit.  

Unit 18 – Database Design 

• Database design is the second hardest unit in my opinion because everything we are learning is quite new to me regarding the in-depth knowledge of databases , it did help knowing the basics of databases before I started this unit however progressing on with the unit it did slowly become more harder as some of the stuff we were learning about did become progressively more harder and harder to keep up to date with. As a student in this specific class, I feel the learning environment is a good one because I can be tunnel vision in how I approach my work by listening to music and getting on with my work. Furthermore, to achieve the specific grade I want, I think I need to really put my head down and avoid all distractions. I also need to make sure that I can guide my energy into being more effective with the time I have been given in class. Therefore, doing so broadens my knowledge regarding the unit of computing.